The Art of War

War knowledge

Nice little book. Impression was lessened somewhat by the typo on the back cover, but...given the topic, that's a small matter.Delivered on time and in good shape.Tom H

Today many of Sun Tzu's quotas are floating around mixed with Shakespeare and the Bible. And as with many of the quotes they are out of context and misleading. The quoter usually thinks repeating the word is some sort of magic.Most versions of this work spend more time trying to identify and qualify Sun Tzu's writings than just quoting them. I will not go through all the arguments as to who "wrote what when" or "translated what when" as you can read this for yourself.Another distraction is the attempt to show how the book was applied or not applied in recent wars. This may be interesting to someone whose intention is to apply the theories of Sun Tzu; however, it is not his writing but someone else's interpretation of its application.Now let's finally get to Sun Tzu. It is easy with hindsight and a closer look at the future to dismiss Sun Tzu as his practical tactical knowledge is of a time and place long gone. He spends a lot of time on the use of weapons and information gathering techniques of the time. This can be interesting in a historical context; otherwise, it is quite amusing.Oh yes, those grains of truth I mentioned, well they may sound like clichés but they are still viable. "Know your enemy and know yourself". Others are just practical sense and statistical outcomes that you learn in any military training. I could go through the list, but again that is why you buy the book.Now just as you decide that the book is outdated for any practical purposes today, we have artillery and now stealth and precision, the reminder that "no two wars are alike" and "it is the flexibility that makes a difference" is being shown today to still be true. Even in today's wars, there is a need for good intelligence and deception. We put a lot of time and energy into Psy-Ops. Sun Tzu shows the advantage of specialized units and “crack troops.”I have spent several years in the military and business and can say this book is a nice addition to history, otherwise of very little value to today's world for war or business.The most abuse of this book is trying to use it for projects as project management is a science that that was in its infancy at the time this book was written.

Today many of Sun Tzu's quotas are floating around mixed with Shakespeare and the Bible. And as with many of the quotes they are out of context and misleading. The quoter usually thinks repeating the word is some sort of magic.Most versions of this work spend more time trying to identify and qualify Sun Tzu's writings than just quoting them. I will not go through all the arguments as to who "wrote what when" or "translated what when" as you can read this for yourself.Another distraction is the attempt to show how the book was applied or not applied in recent wars. This may be interesting to someone whose intention is to apply the theories of Sun Tzu; however, it is not his writing but someone else's interpretation of its application.Now let's finally get to Sun Tzu. It is easy with hindsight and a closer look at the future to dismiss Sun Tzu as his practical tactical knowledge is of a time and place long gone. He spends a lot of time on the use of weapons and information gathering techniques of the time. This can be interesting in a historical context; otherwise, it is quite amusing.Oh yes, those grains of truth I mentioned, well they may sound like clichés but they are still viable. "Know your enemy and know yourself". Others are just practical sense and statistical outcomes that you learn in any military training. I could go through the list, but again that is why you buy the book.Now just as you decide that the book is outdated for any practical purposes today, we have artillery and now stealth and precision, the reminder that "no two wars are alike" and "it is the flexibility that makes a difference" is being shown today to still be true. Even in today's wars, there is a need for good intelligence and deception. We put a lot of time and energy into Psy-Ops. Sun Tzu shows the advantage of specialized units and “crack troops.”I have spent several years in the military and business and can say this book is a nice addition to history, otherwise of very little value to today's world for war or business.The most abuse of this book is trying to use it for projects as project management is a science that that was in its infancy at the time this book was written.

Fast Delivery Good item

The wisdom in this book is timeless, easy read best to use as a reference textbook if you're actually interested. Need it in about an hour and a half or so but take your time and absorb the information well worth the read for any aspect in life from business to your personal life and preparedness